The present invention relates to features of a fishing hook, more particularly structures for maintaining a position of a soft bait on a fishing hook.
The prior art describes that a soft plastic or elastomeric shape may be used as a lure when securely attached to a fishing hook. These soft plastic or elastomeric shapes have come to be known as “soft baits”, partly because they may be compressed, stretched, and even broken in two with the force supplied by a user's hands. Soft baits are often colored and made into shapes similar to live baits used by fishermen. A popular and highly effective soft bait is one formed like a relatively long worm such as a night crawler. Other well known shapes of soft baits include a crawfish, insects, salamanders, small to mid size fish, as well as shapes that have no known analog to a live bait. It has been speculated that soft baits do not act like their live bait analogs when being drawn through the water to attract game fish. However, soft baits as they are drawn through the water do in fact attract game fish very well, even when many other baits and lures do not work at all.
Soft baits usually consist of a single soft and elastomeric material or polymer, typically a plastisol polyvinyl chloride. The soft and pliable nature of soft baits make them easy to lose or come loose in typical fishing situations. Carolina and Texas “riggin” or rigging are forms of setting a fishing hook in a soft bait. Generally, the object of these forms of rigging is to connect the soft bait to specific locations on the hook to maximize security (the tendency to stay connected to a hook) and obstacle shielding (avoiding hooking underwater weeds and branches). It is well known to introduce a fishing hook point in a soft bait and draw the hook through the soft bait until a part of the soft bait is located covering or near the hook's fishing line connector. Another part of the soft bait is simultaneously or later drawn onto the hook point to shield it from underwater weeds or branches.
The above forms of rigging are effective for attracting fish and avoiding underwater obstructions to some degree. However, the simple act of dragging of the soft bait underwater for retrieving often pulls the soft bait from its forward position covering or near the hook's fishing line connection. This act in turn pushes the soft bait covering the hook point from its shielding position. The hook point shielding is lost and the intended form is drastically changed so that the entire hook and soft bait wobble and/or twist instead of moving smoothly through the water. There is a need for a structure to improve the security of soft baits on fishing hooks.
As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,244,133, it has long been known to use a spiral metal wire fixed to a top part of a hook in an attempt to connect a top part of a soft bait close to the fishing line connection while the lower part of the soft bait is fixed to the barbed end of the hook. This dual connection serves an important purpose. A tubular soft bait, such as those imitating earthworms, has a longitudinal axis that is maintained relatively co-linear with the axis of the fishing line pulling the hook through the water. The devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,873,783, 5,379,544, and 6,138,399 disclose various other ways to accomplish this co-linear arrangement.
However, it has been found that these prior art forms of co-linear and dual connection attachment for a soft bait to a fishing hook fail in actual use quite often. There is also a need for a forward connection device near the top of the hook that more effectively secures the top of a soft bait thereat with minimal cost and additional structure.
Fish that are likely to be drawn to soft baits often gather in areas of underwater plants, weeds and branches. These fish seek protection from other predator fish and waterfowl. While soft baits are effective, their use can be limited where a user suspects that they will lose their soft bait by water drag or contact with underwater weeds or branches. Prior art devices have not effectively supported soft baits on relatively slender fishing hooks from these underwater hazards.